The Kansas City franchise was to be called the Kansas City Mohawks, since the Kansas City metropolitan area includes portions of Missouri and Kansas.[2] The name would have combined Missouri's postal abbreviation (MO) and the Kansas nickname of Jayhawkers. However, the Chicago Black Hawks objected because Mohawks sounded too much like Black Hawks.[2][3] The team then held a contest for people to name the new team. The name Scouts was chosen, named after The Scout which is located in Penn Valley Park and overlooks downtown. The iconic statue was featured on the team's logo.[2][4]

On October 9, 1974, the Scouts took the ice for the first time, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, and lost 6-2 to the Maple Leafs.[2] To allow construction to be completed on Kemper Arena, the Scouts played their first eight games on the road. In those eight games, the Scouts lost seven and tied one. The Scouts made their home debut on November 2, losing to the Black Hawks 4-3.[2] The following day the team's first victory came, against the Washington Capitals, by a score of 5-4, in Washington.[2]

Like many other expansion teams, the Scouts performed poorly, garnering only 41 points with a record of 15-54-11 in their inaugural season,[2] though this would be the better result of their two-season history.[2][3]

The team's second season started out with some promise. Near the midway point of the season, the team was competing for a playoff spot, with a 3-1 win over the California Golden Seals on December 28 placing them just one point behind the St. Louis Blues and a playoff position in the weak Smythe Division.[2] However, the Scouts went into free fall for their remaining 44 games. After going winless from December 30 to February 4 (0-14-2), they finally won a game, against the Capitals on February 7, before going 0-21-6 for the rest of the season. The Scouts' second half crash left them with a season result of 12-56-12 and 36 points--still the worst record in the Scouts/Rockies/Devils franchise's history.[2]

With the 1972 startup of the rival World Hockey Association (WHA) resulting in a combined 32 teams between the NHL and the WHA, the talent available to stock the new teams in Kansas City and Washington was stretched thin. In their first season, the Capitals would set an NHL record for futility, losing 67 of 80 games, and only winning one on the road. The Scouts fared only marginally better (losing 56 games), and the 1974 NHL expansion was widely seen as having been a mistake.[3]

Relocation to Denver

The Scouts suffered from inflated player costs, undercapitalized ownership, an economic downturn in the Midwest, poor performances on the ice and weak attendance. The Scouts drew an average of just 8,218 fans during their two years in 17,000-seat Kemper Arena (at a time when the league average was approximately 13,000). The team's group of 37 owners, buried in debt, mounted a season-ticket drive to raise more revenue. However, when only 2,000 people bought tickets, they concluded that the Scouts were not a viable venture and opted to sell.[2] While the Capitals were far worse on the ice, their owner, Abe Pollin, had the financing and the patience to absorb the typical struggles of an expansion team.

After just two seasons, the Scouts franchise was sold to a group headed by Jack Vickers, who moved the team to Denver and renamed it the Colorado Rockies. The Colorado Rockies would play six NHL seasons in Denver, relocating to the East Coast to become the New Jersey Devils following the 1982 season. The last active Scouts player in the NHL was Wilf Paiement, who retired in 1988. Scouts draft pick Bob Bourne also retired after that season, but was traded to the New York Islanders before ever playing with the team.

The Scouts and the California Golden Seals, who moved to become the Cleveland Barons the same year, were the first NHL teams to relocate since the 1935 season.

Legacy

Following the departure of the Scouts, Kansas City became a minor league hockey town again, most notably with the Kansas City Blades, which operated from 1990-2001 in the International Hockey League.[2] Within a few years of the Blades' departure, plans started for what is now the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City, which has led city officials to actively pursue a return to the NHL, speaking with several teams about possible relocation.[2]

To this day, the Devils make almost no mention of their past as the Scouts or Rockies; the Devils' media guide and the history sections of the Devils' website do not acknowledge any captains, coaches or general managers prior to the move to New Jersey. However, inside of the Prudential Center, the Devils home rink, there is a mural on the second floor that shows the former arenas of the Rockies and Scouts, along with Devils' original (1982-2007) New Jersey home, the Brendan Byrne Arena.

Mende Nazer lost her childhood at age twelve, when she was sold into slavery. It all began one horrific night in 1993, when Arab raiders swept through her Nuba village, murdering the adults and rounding up thirty-one children, including Mende.

Mende was sold to a wealthy Arab family who lived in Sudan's capital city, Khartoum. So began her dark years of enslavement. Her Arab owners called her "Yebit," or "black slave." She called them "master." She was subjected to appalling physical, sexual, and mental abuse. She slept in a shed and ate the family leftovers like a dog. She had no rights, no freedom, and no life of her own.

Normally, Mende's story never would have come to light. But seven years after she was seized and sold into slavery, she was sent to work for another masterâa diplomat working in the United Kingdom. In London, she managed to make contact with other Sudanese, who took pity on her. In September 2000, she made a dramatic break for freedom.

Slave is a story almost beyond belief. It depicts the strength and dignity of the Nuba tribe. It recounts the savage way in which the Nuba and their ancient culture are being destroyed by a secret modern-day trade in slaves. Most of all, it is a remarkable testimony to one young woman's unbreakable spirit and tremendous courage.

During his career as a professional baseball scout and coach, Guy Hansen helped sign an impressive roster of future big leaguers, including Bret Saberhagen, Cecil Fielder, Kevin Appier, and Jeff Conine, and coached dozens of the gameâs best pitchers. In this book, Hansen details the lessons he learned during his decades in the game, including "The Answer," his key to sound pitching mechanics, and tells colorful stories of the players he encounteredâstories that will reinforce those lessons. He explains what it was like to see Saberhagen when he was a scrawny high school freshman, how Bo Jackson responded when he brushed him off the plate, how Zack Greinke both amazed and frustrated him, and why the great George Brett told Guy to time him to first base before his final at bat. This book will show you baseball through the eyes of one of the sport's most impassioned and devoted teachers.

"Without Guy's ability to think outside the box and willingness to embrace the unconventional regarding my style, much of my major league career may never have come to be." -- Kevin Appier

"Guy's belief in me when I was a young player helped give me confidence in my abilities ... He saw me as a future major leaguer when few others did, and I've always been grateful for his trust and support." -- Cecil Fielder

"Prior to the 1989 season, Guy reviewed my pitching mechanics and subtle changes were made. I proceeded to set career bests in wins, earned run average, strikeouts and won a second Cy Young Award." -- Bret Saberhagen

"Among the hundreds of players I coached at UCLA for 25 years, Guy will remain at the top of my all-time favorites list. His book is a must-read for all who love America's favorite pastime." -- Glenn Mickens

The heart and soul of Kansas City's major league baseball franchise is a 5-foot-6 and impeccably dressed man you probably haven't heard of. You don't know the Royal's history and successes until you know him. His name is Art Stewart and he helped bring Bo Jackson to the Royals on a hunch. He once signed a player after sneaking into the home and listening in on a rival's offer. He has the kind of charm that's overmatched highway patrolmen--Art has paid two speeding tickets in his life, and guesses that baseball stories have gotten him out of a dozen more. Once, his rental car running on fumes in Florida's Alligator Alley, Art told a few baseball stories and a man siphoned gas for him. He fell in love with baseball when he snuck into his attic and found his late father's baseball gloves, and his seven decades on the wild ride of major league baseball make him a living, breathing, storytelling personification of America's pastime. Art was born on Babe Ruth's 32nd birthday, and has been inside baseball through Ted Williams' triple crown, Willie Mays' catch, Hank Aaron's home runs, George Brett's chase of .400, all the way though the high-definition, instant-replay times of today. Art helped build the Yankees' dynasty of the 1950s and 1960s, before becoming an integral part of making the Royals the most successful expansion franchise in baseball history. His aggressive ways are part of why baseball's owners voted overwhelmingly to institute a draft in 1963. Art signed one 20-game winner who shook the sport with an explosive book, and another 20-game winner who shook the sport by swapping wives with a teammate. From George Brett to Frank White, Bret Saberhagen to Bo Jackson, Carlos Beltran to Eric Hosmer, the Royals' history is Art's history. Art just tells it better than anyone else.

From a National Book Award nominee, âa smart, subtle, moving story about the complicated business of knowing the people you loveâ (Book Forum).

In the sibling relationship, âthere are no first impressions, no seductions, no getting to know each other,â says Denise Kranis. For Denise and her brother, Nik, now in their forties, no relationship is more significant. They grew up in Los Angeles in the late seventies and early eighties. Nik was always the artist, always wrote music, always had a band. Now he makes his art in private, obsessively documenting the work but never testing it in the world. Denise remains Nikâs most passionate and acute audience; she is also the crucial support for Nik and for their aging mother, whose dementia seems to threaten her own memory. When Deniseâs daughter, Ada, decides to make a film about Nik, everyoneâs vulnerabilities escalate.

From Wikipedia: James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa (born February 14, 1913 - disappeared July 30, 1975, declared legally dead July 30, 1982[1][2]) was an American labor union leader. ~~~ Hoffa was involved with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union as an organizer from 1932 to 1975. He served as the union's General President from 1958 to 1971. He secured the first national agreement for teamsters' rates in 1964, and played a major role in the growth and development of the union, which eventually became the largest single union in the United States, with over 1.5 million members during his terms as its leader. ~~~ Hoffa, who had been convicted of jury tampering, attempted bribery, and fraud in 1964, was imprisoned in 1967, sentenced to 13 years, after exhausting the appeal process. It was not until mid-1971 that he officially resigned the Teamsters' presidency, an action that was part of a pardon agreement with U.S. president Richard Nixon, in order to facilitate his release later that year. Nixon blocked Hoffa from union activities until 1980 (which would have been the end of his prison term, had he served the full sentence); Hoffa was attempting to overturn this order and to regain support. ~~~ Hoffa was last seen in late July 1975, outside the Machus Red Fox, a suburban Detroit restaurant.[3] ~~~ Hoffa worked to defend the Teamsters unions from raids by other unions, including the CIO, and extended the Teamsters' influence in the Midwestern states, from the late 1930s to the late 1940s. Although he never actually worked as a truck driver, he became president of Local 299 in December 1946.[8] He then rose to lead the combined group of Detroit-area locals shortly afterwards, and advanced to become head of the Michigan Teamsters groups sometime later. During this time, Hoffa obtained a deferment from military service in World War II, by successfully making a case for his union leadership skills being of more value to the nation, by keeping freight running...

Dead End Kids exposes both the depravity and the humanity in gang life through the eyes of a teenaged girl named Cara, a member of a Kansas City gang. In this shocking yet compassionate account, Mark Fleisher shows how gang girlsâ lives are shaped by poverty, family disorganization, and parental neglect.

When Sprout and his father move from Long Island to Kansas after the death of his mother, he is sure he will find no friends, no love, no beauty. But friends find him, the strangeness of the landscape fascinates him, and when love shows up in an unexpected place, it proves impossible to hold. An incredible, literary story of a boy who knows he's gay, and the town that seems to have no place for him to hide.

Orphaned by the sudden deaths of her parents in 1877, seventeen year-old Emma Jorden has to abandon her Kansas home. Lost on the featureless prairie and near death she is rescued by Shea Hawkshadow, a half-breed Cheyenne warrior. Following an impulsive love affair, Emma and Shea marry. When the consequences of their unconventional marriage spark ridicule then quickly escalate to attempted murder, they risk a journey across the western frontier. However, many trials await the couple in their search for a life free from persecution. Emma masks her increasingly fragile emotional state until years of repression exact a dreadful toll. She battles to unearth the innermost causes of her instability hindered by the lack of humane treatment for mental illnesses in the 19th Century. Emma's transformation from a guileless girl into a complex woman with an unflinching will to survive is remarkable and moving. The Bend in the River is an absorbing saga of savagery, love, secrets, and healing. Susan Gibbs' highly-praised debut novel is a first-rate page-turner. The Bend in the River is an unpredictable and absorbing saga.

Will Carson is the best scout at Fort Dodge. Then he saves the life of Sarah Lawton, a lovely widow with her young daughter, both helpless under Indian fire. And by doing so, he' made mortal enemies with the Cheyenne-who are now out for his blood...

From multiple award-winning author David Brin comes this extraordinary collection of tales and essays of the near and distant future, as humans and aliens encounter the secrets of the cosmos--and of their own existence.Â Â In "Dr. Pak's Preschool" a woman discovers that her baby has been called upon to work while still in the womb.Â Â In "NatuLife" a married couple finds their relationship threatened by the wonders of sex by simulation.Â Â In "Sshhh . . . " the arrival of benevolent aliens on Earth leads to frenzy, madness . . . and unimaginable joy.Â Â In "Bubbles" a sentient starcraft reaches the limits of the universe--and dares to go beyond.Â Â These are but a few of the challenging speculations in Otherness, from the pen of an author whose urgent and compelling imaginative fiction challenges us to wonder at the shape and the nature of the universe--as well as at its future.